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Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute have shown that fruit flies that spent several weeks on the International Space Station (ISS)—about half of their lives—experienced profound structural and biochemical changes to their hearts.

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B-roll available: Video shot today showing the freezers where Cedars-Sinai will store COVID-19 vaccines. Please note: There are NO vaccines in the video. The vaccines will not arrive until next month.

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On November 18 scientists from the US National Science Foundation’s National Solar Observatory predicted the arrival of a large sunspot just in time for Thanksgiving. Using a special technique called helioseismology, the team has been “listening” to changing sound waves from the Sun’s interior which beckon the arrival of a large sunspot.

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Using face masks to help slow the spread of COVID-19 has been widely recommended by health professionals. This has triggered studies of the materials, design, and other issues affecting the way face masks work. In Physics of Fluids, investigators looked at research on face masks and their use and summarized what we know about the way they filter or block the virus. They also summarize design issues that still need to be addressed.

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An international team of astronomers using Gemini North’s GNIRS instrument have discovered that CK Vulpeculae, first seen as a bright new star in 1670, is approximately five times farther away than previously thought. This makes the 1670 explosion of CK Vulpeculae much more energetic than previously estimated and puts it into a mysterious class of objects that are too bright to be members of the well-understood type of explosions known as novae, but too faint to be supernovae.

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The Minister brothers, Larry, Drew, and Justin, have a lot in common, including their love of the outdoors and a family passion for off-roading in the Nevada dessert. But what really fuels the brothers' devotion to each other is their shared diagnoses of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, also known as CMT.

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David Ibbett, Fermilab’s first guest composer, converts real scientific data into musical notes and rhythms. His latest piece, “MicroBooNE,” will make its world premiere at a virtual concert on Dec. 8. In this audio interview, Ibbett shares a sneak peek of the song and explains his compositional process.

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A mock B61-12’s strike in the dusty Nevada desert successfully completed the first in a series of flight tests with the U.S. Air Force’s newest fighter jet, demonstrating the bomb’s first release from an internal bomb bay at greater than the speed of sound.

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The Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion for low-income people appears to lead to earlier diagnosis of colon cancer, enhanced access to care, and improved surgical care for patients with this common cancer.

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Blame it on the bison. If not for the wooly, boulder-sized beasts that once roamed North America in vast herds, ancient people might have looked past the little barley that grew under those thundering hooves. But the people soon came to rely on little barley and other small-seeded native plants as staple food.

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A research team, including scientists from UC San Diego, Argonne National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, wins the Gordon Bell Special Prize for High Performance Computing-Based COVID-19 Research, presented during the SC20 virtual conference.

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When food is scarce, monarch butterfly caterpillars go from peaceful feeders to aggressive fighters. The results look something like a combination of boxing and “bumper” cars. The less food, the more likely caterpillars were to try to head-butt each other out of the way to get their fill, lunging and knocking aside other caterpillars to ensure their own survival. And, they are most aggressive right before the final stages of their metamorphosis.

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A new study confirmed that the rabbit-sized rodent sequesters poison from the bark of Acokanthera schimperi, known as the poison arrow tree, into specialized fur for defense. The researchers also discovered an unexpected social life—the rats appear to be monogamous and may even form small family units with their offspring.

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LLNL researchers have used multi-material 3D printing to create tailored gradient refractive index glass optics that could make for better military specialized eyewear and virtual reality goggles.

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Detailed modeling of the effect of volcanic eruptions on the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) has shown that the climate response to these events depends on the timing of the eruption and the preceding conditions.

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Baylor Scott & White Health, the largest not-for-profit health system in the state of Texas, today announces two separate academic affiliations: a new affiliation with Baylor College of Medicine and an expanded affiliation with their long-time partner Texas A&M University. Both alliances are aimed at training future clinicians and developing programs that advance high-quality care and healthcare innovation.

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Dust may seem insignificant, but it plays a huge role in the universe, from the formation of stars and planets to facilitating the complex chemistry that becomes the stuff of life—including usT. Astronomers refer to the unexplained abundance of dust in galaxies as the “dust budget crisis.” It is a mystery that astronomers are excited to get to work solving using the specialized technology of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.

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Maria T. Abreu, M.D., a renowned gastroenterologist at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, was honored with the “Lifetime Disruptor” award at the American College of Gastroenterology’s 2020 virtual meeting.

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A new kind of radar could make it possible for self-driving cars to navigate safely in bad weather. Electrical engineers at the University of California San Diego developed a clever way to improve the imaging capability of existing radar sensors so that they accurately predict the shape and size of objects in the scene. The system worked well when tested at night and in foggy conditions.

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In a new editorial in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Kathleen Unroe, M.D., MHA, a geriatrician, is advocating for stronger relationships between health systems and nursing homes to provide better care for patients in times of crisis and during day-to-day operations.

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A bioethicist lays out the ethical rationale to develop robots for isolated and disabled older people – a population increasingly alone due to COVID-19. Many lonely seniors would value a robot for companionship and sexual gratification, writes Nancy Jecker at the Univ. of Washington School of Medicine.

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The joint international 239th ECS Meeting and 18th International Meeting on Chemical Sensors (IMCS) is now accepting abstract submissions.

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Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory investigated the binding properties of several hepatitis C drugs to determine how well they inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 main protease, a crucial protein enzyme that enables the novel coronavirus to reproduce. Inhibiting, or blocking, the protease from functioning is vital to stopping the virus from spreading in patients with COVID-19.

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Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, one of the world’s leading centers of cancer research and treatment, and Quest Diagnostics, (NYSE: DGX), the world’s leading provider of diagnostic information services, announced the start of a new research study that provides free COVID-19 antibody testing to individuals who are at high risk of developing multiple myeloma.

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The National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) has received another $13.7 million contract from the United States Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to extend the Modeling for Affordable, Sustainable Composites (MASC) research program.

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With multiple studies showing that COVID deaths and complications increase step-by-step with increasing blood sugar levels, a groundbreaking Newswise Webinar on Thursday November 12th from 2 to 3 pm ET will examine national, clinical and community strategies to immediately improve COVID outcomes through comprehensive nutrition information and action.

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During the coronavirus pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control continue to recommend that everyone wear a mask in public, or any place where there are other people, to minimize the transmission of COVID-19. But is it safe to wear a mask for a prolonged period of time? Can a mask restrict oxygen intake or cause a buildup of carbon dioxide? “As a pulmonologist, I can assure you that for most people wearing a mask is safe,” said Daniel F. Dilling, MD, Loyola University Medical Center pulmonologist and critical care medicine specialist. “I wear a mask every day. Most masks do not limit the amount of air that you breathe in, nor decrease your body’s ability to fight COVID-19. “Most importantly, masks work,” said Dr. Dilling, who is featured in the new Loyola Medicine video, “Coronavirus (COVID-19): Do Face Masks Restrict air Flow?”

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Seniors who joined group exercise classes experienced decreased loneliness and social isolation, according to a new Cedars-Sinai study conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic. The classes have continued virtually since March, and early results suggest the online versions are also effective. Seniors face increased risk for developing serious health issues or even death if they lack social connections or feel alone. Both issues are widespread in the U.S., where more than a third of adults 45 and older feel lonely and nearly a quarter of those 65 and older are socially isolated.

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Cornell University has developed the first variety of spring malting barley designed to succeed in New York’s wet climate and support the state’s $5 billion craft beer industry. All it needs now is a name.

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An Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center researcher has been awarded a five-year, $2.9 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to develop a drug that could make radiation therapy far more effective.

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Following up on an enormous gamma ray burst detected by Swift in May, Hubble astronomers believe they've viewed the glow of a kilonova, the aftermath of a colossal explosion caused by the merger of two neutron stars that formed a magnetar. The near-infrared emission seen by Hubble was 10 times brighter than predicted.

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Half of vaccines are wasted annually because they aren’t kept cold. Michigan Tech and UMass Amherst chemical engineers have discovered a way to stabilize viruses in vaccines with proteins instead of temperature.

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Intellia Therapeutics Doses First Patient in Landmark CRISPR/Cas9 Clinical Trial of NTLA-2001 for the Treatment of Transthyretin Amyloidosis

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December 2020 DCR Journal videos

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The high price of prescription drugs is an important issue for voters, and in the past 50 years, Congress and the president have made little headway in restraining costs.

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The Affordable Care Act has improved women’s reproductive health care, but a looming legal challenge threatens those gains. On Nov. 10, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in California v. Texas, which challenges the constitutionality of the ACA.

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Matthew Staymates, fluid dynamicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, is studying different mask types to determine which are the most effective at reducing disease transmission. In Physics of Fluids, he describes exploring the basic flow dynamics of N95 masks with or without exhalation valves. To do this, he generates stunning video from his schlieren imaging, a method to visualize the fluid flow away from the surface of an object, and light scattering.

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November is National Healthy Skin Month, and it’s also the start of the holiday season when costs and spending can soar. Fortunately, dermatologists from the American Academy of Dermatology say there are several things people can do to reduce skin care costs while keeping their skin healthy and looking its best.

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If you’ve ever seen a seagull snatch some fries or felt their beady eyes on your sandwich in the park, you'd be right to suspect they know exactly when to strike to increase their chances of getting a human snack. A new study by the University of Bristol is the most in-depth look to date at the foraging behaviours of urban gulls and how they’ve adapted to patterns of human activity in a city.

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Though the election and pandemic have eclipsed it in the news, there’s another event unfolding that could affect nearly all Americans: a Supreme Court case that will decide the future of the Affordable Care Act. A health policy researcher explains what would happen if it's overturned.

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Reported in Nature Biotechnology, the known diversity of bacteria and archaea has been expanded by 44% through a publicly available collection of more than 52,000 microbial genomes from environmental samples resulting from a JGI-led collaboration involving more than 200 scientists around the world.

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A collaboration between the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) radio telescope in Europe, the Gemini North telescope, and the NASA InfraRed Telescope Facility (IRTF), both on Maunakea in Hawai‘i, has led to the first direct discovery of a cold brown dwarf from its radio wavelength emission. Along with paving the way for future brown dwarf discoveries, this result is an important step towards applying radio astronomy to the exciting field of exoplanets.

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Computer scientists at Columbia Engineering have shown for the first time that it is possible to analyze how thousands of Android apps use cryptography without needing to have the apps’ actual codes. The team’s new tool, CRYLOGGER, can tell when an Android app uses cryptography incorrectly—it detects the so-called “cryptographic misuses” in Android apps. When given a list of rules that should be followed for secure cryptography, CRYLOGGER detects violations of these rules.

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The social isolation brought on by stay-at-home orders (SAHO) issued in the early phase of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may have a deadly and dangerous side effect: an increase in intentional penetrating injuries, especially firearm violence.

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Many people reuse masks and other face coverings many times without sanitizing them. That is likely because current sanitization methods can be cumbersome. A new device using a hanging rack and UV-C light can sterilize up to six masks and other items simultaneously and quickly, killing bacteria, yeasts, mold spores, and viruses. This device has shown its efficacy against pathogens including the highly-contagious E-coli, which was eradicated in about one minute.

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Researchers at the Aalto University School of Business followed the Guggenheim Helsinki project closely for several years: they interviewed different parties, observed meetings and analysed news related to the project. According to the researchers, Guggenheim's conquest of Helsinki failed due to a long political struggle that effectively produced stigma.

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The Government released a call for evidence for the safe use of Automated Lane Keeping Systems (ALKS) in August this year ready for Spring 2021.

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When a frightful creature startles you, your brain may activate its fear-processing circuitry, sending your heart racing to help you escape the threat.